UNO GAME NOTES | BRADLEY GAME NOTES
NEW ORLEANS – The University of New Orleans men's basketball team will open a four-game road swing on Wednesday, Nov. 25, when they travel to Peoria, Illinois, to take on the Bradley Braves in Carver Arena. The game is slated to tipoff at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
After the game against the Braves, the Privateers will play at Northwestern on Saturday, at Tulane on Wednesday, Dec. 2 and at Ball State on Saturday, Dec. 5. The game at Bradley marks the third of six road games the Privateers will play over the first seven contests of the 2015-16 season.
"It's an amazing four-game stretch to be on," head coach
Mark Slessinger said. "This game is against a great Missouri Valley Conference team with incredible tradition…it's an important game for us. It's a tough four-game swing, but we also have a really tough four-game swing in league play in February that in reality could make or break our run toward a championship. This is a good experience for our team to feel what it's like to be on the road, overcome some adversity and figure out a way to solve some problems."
The Privateers head to Illinois 1-2 on the year and looking to build on the momentum of a 94-57 victory over Pensacola Christian on Thursday night in the Lakefront Arena. As a team, New Orleans is averaging 76.7 points, 39.7 rebounds, 13.7 assists, 9.0 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.
Junior guard
Christavious Gill is one of three UNO players averaging double figures offensively and leads the team with 14.0 points per game. Sophomore wing
Michael Zeno is next with 12.7 points per game while junior forward
Erik Thomas follows with an 11.3 average. Senior forward
Kevin Hill paces the team with 10.7 rebounds per game and Thomas headlines the defense with a pair of blocked shots. Gill leads the Privateers with 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals per contest.
New Orleans is connecting at a .418 clip from the field, hitting 76-of-182 shots from the floor, and 18-of-46 tries from beyond the 3-point arc (.391), while allowing opponents to shoot .490 overall (75-of-153) and .343 from 3-point land (24-of-70). Privateer foes are averaging 77.0 points, 31.7 rebounds, 16.0 assists, 7.7 steals and 4.0 blocks so far in 2015-16.
"Our goal is to get a win first and foremost, but we've got to continue to grow and be efficient offensively," Slessinger added. "We have to play with incredible passion defensively, keep getting better and keep developing. I'm anxious for our interior game to catch up with our perimeter game. Once that happens and we start getting solid, consistent production from our interior guys, a lot of stuff will free up for us both offensively and defensively."
Bradley, meanwhile, enters the midweek match-up 1-4 on the year and looking to snap a four-game skid after falling at Arizona on Nov. 16 and being swept by the field during the 2015 Gildan Charleston Classic last weekend in losses to Virginia (82-57 on Thursday), Seton Hall (67-59 on Friday) and Towson (62-60 on Sunday) in Charleston, South Carolina.
As a team, the Braves are averaging 58.0 points, 31.8 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 2.0 steals and 3.2 blocks per game. Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye a balanced Bradley offense with 11.4 points per game while Callum Barker, Luuk van Bree and Donte Thomas follow with respective scoring averages of 9.8, 7.8 and 7.4. Lautier-Gunleye and Barker share the team lead with 4.6 rebounds per game and Barker has five of the team's 16 blocks. Lautier-Ogunleye also headlines the squad with 3.2 assists per outing whiel Ka'Darryl Bell has a team-best four steals.
Bradley is hitting 37.7 percent of its shots from the field, connecting on 95-of-252 field goal attempts, including a 22-of-92 showing from beyond the 3-point line (.239). The Braves' defense has allowed opponents to post a 45.5 shooting percentage (120-of-264) and a 31.3 clip from 3-point land (21-of-67). Bradley opponents are averaging 70.8 points, 37.8 rebounds, 12.0 assists, 5.6 steals and 3.4 blocks per game.
"They're a really young team, but they're an extremely skilled team," Slessinger said of Bradley. "They're a good offensive team and Coach [Brian] Wardle can coach his tail off. He's a very, very good basketball coach, a guy that I have a lot of respect for who has done a great job building a program at Green Bay before coming down here to resurrect this program. They've played a brutal schedule with two Top 25 teams plus Seton Hall. They've had a really tough start to their season but I know they'll improve as the season moves along."
Wednesday's game between New Orleans and Bradley marks the fourth time the two teams will meet on the hardwood and the Braves hold a 2-1 lead in the all-time series. The upcoming contest marks the first time UNO will take the court against the Braves under head coach
Mark Slessinger.
The Privateers' lone win against Bradley to date came in a 91-63 decision back on Jan. 1, 1989, in Lakefront Arena. New Orleans is 0-2 when playing the Braves on their own court, falling 111-94 in the initial meeting on Dec. 4, 1987, and dropping an 87-72 contest on Dec. 2, 1995. The 1989 contest marks the highest-scoring UNO road game in program history as the two programs combined for 205 points.
Following the four-game roads wing, UNO's next home game is slated for Saturday, Dec. 12, when they play host to Williams Baptist at 6:15 p.m. in Lakefront Arena. Tickets to that game and future Privateer sporting events can be purchased by clicking
HERE or by calling the UNO Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 280-GAME (4263).
